OWH Picks Iowa as B1G West Favorite

[Mavric]

» The margins in each category are weighed differently. Iowa has only a marginally better quarterback than Minnesota and Nebraska, while Wisconsin, by far, has the hardest schedule in the free world. The Badgers’ slate is so hard and rigorous, in fact, that it’s basically impossible to pick them.

» Iowa wins the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are a confident pick — more confident than either of the last two seasons for me. I picked Iowa in 2014 — the Hawkeyes lost close games to Wisconsin and Nebraska to end the season — and Wisconsin last season. The Badgers’ quarterback play — Joel Stave! — cost them wins over Iowa and Northwestern. This season, Iowa has the best quarterback, a coaching staff that’s gelled and perhaps the best defense it has enjoyed since 2009.

» The pick at No. 2 is tough. Nebraska gets the slight nod there. If Wisconsin’s schedule wasn’t quite as stiff, the Badgers might be the pick. Northwestern should, by all accounts, sustain its success from last season — unless you chew on how many close games the Wildcats won, and the program’s tendency to achieve more in big games on the road than it does at home. This could be Minnesota’s year to make a surge, but the Gophers may not have quite the horses.

» The final tally, after a full training camp:

1. Iowa

2. Nebraska

3. Wisconsin

T4. Northwestern

T4. Minnesota

OWH

 

[Mavric]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

 

[caveman99]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

It is quite puzzling for sure. Keep seeing the "devoid of talent" argument for some reason. Nebraska has Top 20 talent no doubt, tons of metrics to back that up, coaching hasn't harnessed that talent properly yet.

 

[ADS]

Don't think Sam is very high on the team this year.

 

[Enhance]

Iowa is the safe, smart pick. Returning starting QB and (at least for now) coaching that has proven itself superior.

 

[mel4red]

No balls. It's like picking Alabama #1.

But, #1 from 2015 should start #1 for 2016, until proven otherwise.

Safe bet 101.

 

[HuskerzFanatik]

Hey we don't need to listen to Sam when we have the ice cold Dr. Pepper playoff prediction.

 

[knapplc]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

I thought I'd check to see how bad it is. I was shocked it's this bad. How the hell do we ever lose to these guys?

 

[RedDenver]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

I thought I'd check to see how bad it is. I was shocked it's this bad. How the hell do we ever lose to these guys?

Based on last year's game, I'd say we do it to ourselves.

 

[Mavric]

Iowa is the safe, smart pick. Returning starting QB and (at least for now) coaching that has proven itself superior.

No doubt they deserve to be the favorite. But we have every chance to win the division this year.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Iowa is able to win games mainly by other teams making mistakes, and Iowa capitalizing on them. NU should have the talent advantage over the entire Big Ten West, so NU should be winning the division the majority of the years. NU definitely shouldn't be going 1-5 against West Division opponents.

 

[knapplc]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

I thought I'd check to see how bad it is. I was shocked it's this bad. How the hell do we ever lose to these guys?

Based on last year's game, I'd say we do it to ourselves.

Agreed. They've beaten us twice since we joined the Big Ten. Last year when we trounced their best team ever on everything except the scoreboard, and in 2013 when Bo should have been fired.

In those two losses we're -6 on turnovers, we've had 13 penalties for 137 yards, and seven of Iowa's 25 first downs came via Nebraska penalties.

In just those two games we had 42 1st downs and 721 yards of total offense. Iowa had 25 1st downs & 531 yards of total offense.

But they outscored us 66-37.

That's pretty amazing.

 

[huskerfan92]

Hey we don't need to listen to Sam when we have the ice cold Dr. Pepper playoff prediction.

All hail Larry Culpepper!

 

[SuperBigFan69]

NU should probably never be worse than 5-1 in the West.

 

[BIG ERN]

Sam still trying to downplay the Huskers talent advantage despite all evidence to the contrary.

I thought I'd check to see how bad it is. I was shocked it's this bad. How the hell do we ever lose to these guys?

Based on last year's game, I'd say we do it to ourselves.

They run the ball and want you to make mistakes. They know they will never get enough athletes to run a different system and Kirk has done a great job with that. Iowa only lost the turnover battle in two games last year, and those were the only two games they lost.